Battle Cupcake's page

Thread necromancy! Allow me to help with a few things this post didn't quite get correctly...

First, the hard parts.

Benefit(s): Your pool of serpent-fire ki increases to 4 points. When you maintain your chakras as a swift action without opening a new chakra, you can choose to attempt either the Fortitude save or the Will save instead of both.

Emphasis mine.

As you can see, it's initially suggested you must attempt both the Fortitude and the Will save to open Crown Chakra, and this post suggests you can get away with just the Fortitude save, which is wrong. However...

If the initiate fails the Fortitude save, he takes 1d6 points of damage per awakened chakra. If the initiate fails the Will save, he is overcome with visions related to the emotions and concepts associated with the awakened chakras, causing him to be dazed for 1 round and causing all of his chakras to close.

Emphasis mine. The Will save is the portion that shuts down all of your progress; taking 7d6 hit point damage sucks, but as a 14th-level character, we're going to just deal with it.

So let's accept some damage and focus on beating the Will save, not the Fortitude save. We'll rely on Chakra Expertise to help us maintain once we get there. We need to stack as many Will save bonuses as we can onto a class with a bad Will save without becoming a completely non-functional character.

I'll take a whack at it for you. I don't personally enjoy optimizing, but my time as a GM has made me adequate at it, and the chakra opening system is impossible without doing it.

As you can see, we have a 45% chance of taking damage when we try to move up from Brow to Crown, and a 30% chance of failing the Will save completely, and thus closing all our Chakras. With Improved Iron Will, we can make that a 9% chance to fail once per day, and we have a 4.5% chance to fail the Fortitude save and take 7d6 damage when maintaining. If you're about to die, and have to try Will to maintain, we have a .25% chance of failure, or a .0125% chance if we have Improved Iron Will still unused.

If that friendly bard gives us Greater Heroism and/or Moment of Greatness, our chances look pretty good for a 14th-level character!

There are other shenanigans that can be employed, such as a defiant weapon, or large amounts of Use Magic Device (you have Charisma to spare!) with items like a scroll of moment of prescience. But I won't go into anything more than this.

Point is, it's not all so hopeless as long as you don't stretch yourself too far, focus on it, and you've got a friend to help out.

If by "any attack", you are referring to effects tied to Fortitude saves, then yes. If by "any attack" you mean ones tied to Reflex or Will, then no.

For example, if you're subject to a ki shout spell and make your saving throw, you take no damage instead of half.

It's basically Evasion for Fortitude. Is it powerful? Yes, but so is Evasion, and they serve largely different purposes.

Well passive rage powers would still function so it doesn't completely box out every option, but there's a number of these types of oversights in the ACG.

Unless I'm mistaken, passive or not, the Skald's rage powers only apply during rage from another class (to themselves only) or to their inspired rage raging song.

And potentially if an ally casts the rage spell on them.

Well, as this archetype has a capstone, it's pretty clear multi-classing isn't the intended solution. Candidate for errata, perhaps?

I've been gandering through my Advanced Class Guide PDF, and it is a beautiful thing; I especially love the Hunter and the Skald.

That aside, there I stumbled on a particular issue addressed in the title of this thread...

First, here, in Rage Powers.

Emphasis mine.

Now, notice the Spell Warrior archetype's Weapon Song...

Emphasis also mine.

I see no mention of using rage powers during this song, meaning the Spell Warrior Skald gains rage powers at level 3 and every 3 levels thereafter, but can never use them.

Am I missing something, or can the Spell Warrior actually just not use Rage Powers unless he takes levels in another class (such as Barbarian) to use them in conjunction with that class's Rage feature?

What's the deal with the Picaroon (swashbuckler with guns!)? Would it make for an excellent pirate vibe? What's it do mechanically and what's it lose out on?

A Barbarian can get the Bloodrager Bloodlines?

How does that work? Similar to the Eldritch Heritage line of feats?

He can pick them up using rage powers.

Battle Cupcake wrote:

I guess I'll post the question one last time.

What does the Spell Warrior archetype for Skald do? Between the Totemic Skald's beast shaping, the Fated Champion's foresight, and the herald of the horn's amazing Nordic vibes, I must know the last of the four!

I've been dumping a bit of info here and answered your first question on the third page.

Thank you!

EDIT: A counterspell Skald? Yes. Beautiful.

I guess I'll post the question one last time.

What does the Spell Warrior archetype for Skald do? Between the Totemic Skald's beast shaping, the Fated Champion's foresight, and the herald of the horn's amazing Nordic vibes, I must know the last of the four!

Dragon78 wrote:

Not This Day- use 10 rounds of Raging Song to reroll a save or force an enemy to reroll an attack roll.

Ugh, 10 rounds for a reroll? Sounds extremely steep.

If the Skald is still 3+Cha+1/level rounds, then yeah, super steep. But I'd use it anyway, just because the man-points scream to me.

What's the Spell Warrior Skald archetype do? From the looks of the preview, do they have something similar to the Arcane Duelist's Bladethirst?

Anyone willing to divulge?

What's the Spell Warrior Skald archetype do? From the looks of the preview, do they have something similar to the Arcane Duelist's Bladethirst?

I'm curious about the Fated Champion Skald archetype... anyone willing to divulge some details? ;)

I'm particularly curious if any of the Skald archetypes replace damage reduction.

I'm Hiding In Your Closet wrote:

I understand - what I'm asking there is, "If I go back to the drawing board, give up on the Empyreal Knight, and look at the Sacred Servant instead, what interesting things could I do with that?"

I'd still be interested if anyone has input on this....

I can give some, as someone who's currently playing a gunslinger 1/sacred servant of Falayna 6.

Sacred Servant is much closer to the cleric than the typical paladin, with the whole shtick of being intimately connected to a deity. If you've enjoyed clerics, the Sacred Servant takes a hand closer to them and becomes better (!) at channeling than their cleric compatriot, as well as, at very high levels, potentially having a caster level higher than their own hit dice.

I'd say the greatest draw from the roleplaying perspective is playing a character with a more well-fleshed out code; the base paladin code extends to all, but adding to those edicts via the tenets of a deity can really help establish a personality. For example, never striking first for Shelyn, or to aid graveskeepers and lead the way through the dark, for Tsukiyo.

If you're not a fan of heavier codes, you probably wouldn't like the Sacred Servant. If you don't mind it, it's got some fun abilities and a good GM gets a lot to work with when providing plot hooks and thinking of challenges for the players.

Yes, you know if you can cast spells. The only way to become a sorcerer is to unlock your inner capability to cast arcane spells through your bloodline. Thus, you get your first level as soon as you can cast as a sorcerer, not before.

This explanation makes a lot of sense to me. Thanks.

So, we have blocks that describe creatures. These assume that a creature is, in fact, aware of its own abilities and has used them at some time in the past.

Obviously a creature knows what senses it has; these actively return information.

However, I've been unable to find if a creature innately knows all of its abilities from the time it learns them.

For example, does a creature that gains one level of sorcerer(which is oft an unexplained, spontaneous thing) know it has spellcasting?

Does a Cleric, on his first day being accepted by a patron, know he can channel energy?

Does a dragon know the exact time between uses of its breath weapon? This one I'd presume so, since I've always thought of it as some kind of 'exhaustion'.

I can say with absolute certainty that my kobold oracle/DD has been a blast, and has been able to compete and remain surprisingly useful up to 15th level.

Greetings everyone,

I'm currently playing a Kobold Oracle 5/Dragon Disciple 10, who has been great fun(this combination is made possible due to the below):

Scaled Disciple (Kobold)

Your draconic heritage manifests as divine power.

Prerequisite(s): Ability to spontaneously cast divine spells, kobold.

Benefit(s): You gain a +1 bonus to your caster level when casting spells included in the dragon domain* or subdomains. Your spontaneous divine spellcasting qualifies in place of arcane casting for the dragon disciple prestige class, and you may increase spellcasting in your spontaneous divine class as you progress in dragon disciple levels. Add the bonus spells gained from the blood of dragons ability to those you can cast as divine spells.

At this point, he's done with Dragon Disciple, and has a Robe of Arcane Heritage, leaving his effective sorcerer level for his bloodline at 14. This is annoying me because the Wings bloodline power would increase to flight 90 ft. at effective sorcerer level 15.

Aside from taking a level in sorcerer(and thus largely defeating the purpose of the class/PrC combination), is there a way to gain another effective sorcerer level for his bloodline that I'm blissfully unaware of?

I've always thought the same thing: Temporary HPs are simply HPs that can't be healed. I ask for clarification because this came up in the last session, and the DM thought that they're not normal HPs, which put me in the threshold to be affected by Power Word Stun.

I wasn't certain, so I didn't argue, but obviously the question is here now so I know in the future.

I have a question to pose regarding how temporary hit points are considered in relation to determining current hit points.

Let's say I have 95 HPs remaining, and 20 hit points from a False Life I cast, for a total of 115. We're fighting a BBEG, and he uses Power Word Kill.

Do the temporary hit points count towards my total HPs, meaning I'm at 115, and survive?

Or do they count as a separate HP pool that's depleted first in addition to my normal HPs, in which case I have 95 HPs, and die?

A quote from the prd or recent FAQ would be awesome, but obviously there isn't always one.

A stat block of

STR 16, DEX 16, CON 15, INT 14, WIS 11, CHA 13

is pretty decent for any martial class. Wielding a weapon a size class larger than yourself is a pretty decent ability and I would take it for a feat.

The inquisitor makes nice use of your DEX since your best abilities work with either melee or ranged weapons. You'll have a pretty sweet skill monkey and melee striker. The barbarian will tend to be the first into any given fight which allows you some options in deciding if the situation is worth using a spell to buff yourself before going into combat, if you want to hang back and use a ranged weapon, or charge directly into melee. Also, you'll have plenty of skill ranks if you want to go with an intimidation based build (here having an oversized great axe would lend some credence to your case).

Probably the stat generation would be a turn off for me but whatever is fun for you and your friends is fun for you and your friends.

I think I'll just stick to Ranger, seeing as it would take significant investment to get all of my spells as an Inquisitor. Ranger is better-suited to the archery aspect anyway, I'd argue, just because the abundance of feats allows for greater versatility.

Inquisitor would be something fun to come back as if I died, though. I have a plan for playing one of them as well, if the dice gods don't go in my favor.

Also, Cornugon Smash makes for great fun.

Slap that 18 in Dex, nab the Dervish Dance feat, and Magus it up.

Put the +2 into strength, to get a 13 strength for Power Attack.

The sheer damage output capable with that, given a 15-20 crit range with keen... is downright terrifying.

Actually, there is another option I initially missed when considering a ranger - putting a level or two in sorcerer and going for a dragon disciple. It messes up your BAB a bit, but you get a fair amount of extra strength, some bloodline abilities and a bit of sorcerer/bard casting. It might be worth it, depending on how you see your character.

If you stay a ranger, I'd say boon companion can help your pet work well, and remember to give it the right feats for the job. If it gets int 3 or higher (and you decide where its attribute bonuses go) it can take any feat it qualifies to, not just animal ones. Velociraptor with plate barding? You better believe it!

He says he'd allow me to get a T-Rex. I'm considering getting one with the full vital strike chain and making him regret that decision. Hehe.

Boon companion is allowed. 5th-level feat, no doubt about it.

So, what happens if your PC suddenly decides to not fight in melee, at all? Instant death?

What happens if your build begins to fall out of the set role?

Do you get to choose your feats and skills?

Uh, I guess I'll respond in order:

1) He'll give me some incentive to. One of our three casters would probably suffer.

2) He doesn't care what I build out of it, only how I start. Anything isn't explicitly third-party is allowed. If it's third-party, I ask him to approve it.

3) Yeah.

It seems it's a very good thing that I like this DM as a person and trust him to make this all fun.

And yes, I could get the full Ranger spell list with one level bonus in WIS and then a +2 or higher headband. It seems appealing. Flanking buddy and the combination of a weapon a size category larger and lead blades seems well-suited, as well.

Well, I think I'll go switch-hitting ranger, and make as much use as I can out of my larger weapons; the players' guide says the campaign has a lot of magical beasts, so favoured enemy won't be a problem. I'll give my DM your feedback on his methods; he's been looking for a more effective way or divying out ability scores, anywho. I'll tell him about the Elite Array.

Thanks for answering my query with so many constructive responses. I honestly didn't expect anything but rage to spew when I posted this thread.

Weren't you all rolling? How come your roll is worse than everyone else's?

Well he rolls until there's a roll he likes, and gives it to you, like I said above. He made mine ~5 PB lower than the rest of the group. Overall, we have very above-average ability scores.

Not to offend the OP, but I agree with pretty much everyone else that this feels highly constrictive and also borderline intentionally onerous, and this is coming from the guy who GMs 95% of his group's games.

I don't take offense to it, what you say is true. I just don't mind it that much.

He might not let you put two hands on a weapon? What?

You seem to be given only the illusion of choice.

Are all of your players enjoying these strange, overtly contolling houserules?

Do they wish they were different?

Does the DM own all the books, or provide a place to game?

It doesn't bug me that much; like I said, our Wizard has a pretty high STR score. I think it'll work out in the end, because he's the kind of person who'd tone down the encounters if it was clearly overwhelming for the party.

He has the books, the tools, and we're playing at his house; I just bought the AP.

He does this mostly for fun, and none of us mind it. I just came to the boards to ask this query because, frankly, I was having a hard time deciding what would work best with my roll (mine is somewhat worse than the rest of the party, because I've played before).

Make the STR and DEX 16's, put your racial bonus into STR.

I'd recommend one of the following:

Inquisitor
Samurai
Cavalier

Incidentally, why don't you get the human bonus feat? Are you trading that out for another option?

I was wondering that too, and just got a response from him; he says I was raised by cloud giants in the Fenwall Mountains, and says I can use a weapon a size category bigger than myself as a result. Which... makes the future seem much brighter.

Sorry, I could have worded that better. The poor melee class rolls were intended; he gave our now-wizard a default of 7 INT and 14 STR/CHA. The two-hander also isn't my decision.

I don't mean to make the DM sound cruel, he always gives us the 16s. Yeah, they were probably going into STR and DEX. And he'd probably let me not use a two-hander if I just talked to him about it.

I was considering Inquisitor for the hit-bonuses, and possibly going for the Spellbreaker archetype since teamwork feats are rather wasted with one other melee character. I could go for the Feather subdomain and get an animal companion, too. Not sure if he wants to learn how Magus works, haha.

Thanks for your feedback; it's helpful.

Okay, so this might require a fair amount of prefacing.

My DM hates point-buy and the power-gaming it can promote, so he rolls stats this way:

Roll 4d6(drop lowest), assign to the ability score, in order.
If he likes the final set of ability scores(i.e. your primary scores are below 10 and you're probably CHA 16+), he gives you the roll and tells you to go with it.
The player can then make two scores 16s, or one an 18.

It admittedly does make us play characters far more interesting than we would have otherwise, although it's sometimes cruel to melee ones, especially Monks.

It has been ruled I am playing a Human, and I will use a two-handed weapon. Other than that, I have freedom on the matter. We have an Oracle, a Druid, a Wizard, and an Invulnerable Rager tank-barian. The first 3 are all going full caster, and I'm the only one who's played Pathfinder.

So, it's my job now to take a two-handed weapon and wreck stuff; I have to make that big bad very dead, very fast. I'm not going to play a Barbarian because I don't want to potentially outshine that player, and I simply can't roleplay a Paladin or Rogue.

My Ability Scores(before the freebies or racial bonuses) are:
STR 11, DEX 7, CON 15, INT 14, WIS 11, CHA 13

What class would be the best for kill big bad very hard, very fast?

The options are probably Ranger, Magus and Inquisitor, the way I see it right now.